The advent of application stores, which act as centralized distribution mechanisms for applications (commonly referred to as “apps”), has created new challenges in software distribution and maintenance. In a typical process, a user selects an application and then downloads the application from an application store. At a later point in time, the application may be updated to correct bugs, add new features, or may be updated for other reasons. To obtain the updates, the mobile device may occasionally transmit requests to the application store to check for updates using a process known as polling. Polling requires the device to transmit and then possibly receive a message each time the mobile device checks for a message, which may reoccur in intervals as short as a matter of seconds or as long as a matter of minutes, hours, or days. Polling drains battery power and may subject the user to extra fees for data service by a service provider.